Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-10-08

Presented 80 old Hiram Thursday
EvenInG-The Address Made by Ho N.
Lynde Harrison.
At the regular communication Of Hiram
odge held Thursday evening Hon. Lynde
Harrison made the presentation address in
behalf of the committee of ten appointed to
settle the question of title to the furniture in
the Masonic Temple with the other lodges,
and stated that the committee representing
the other lodges agreed to make no claim for
any furniture in the blue room, provided the
marble ashlars which had been used fer sew
eral years should be given to them. 1.-THE
committee in the interest of harmony and
Cancellation decided to give up all the title
of Hiram lodge in and to those ashlars. Of
those the perfect ashlar was a handsome
piece of. pure white polished marble, but the
rough ashlar was not rough ashlar in the
Masonic sense, for it was not a stone in the
condition in which it was taken from the
quarry in its crude and natural state. The
hammer and the chisel of the workman had
been applied to its several faces. Your COM
mittee having come to this decision deter
mined that Hiram lodge should suffer moth
ing by the concession made. In behalf of
that committee and in its name am in
lars now before the w. NJ. The
stones were taken from the quarriee
of Brother John Beattie, of Leete's Island,
and are present from him to Hiram lodge
as token of his sympathy and friendship.
The committee then employed Brother Frank
Beattie, the superintendent of the stone cut
ting works at Leete's Island, to prepare from
one of them polished ashlar, which it is in
deed" members of the committee at this
point unveiled the ashlars, which are of fine
grained red granite, thirty inches in height
and fifteen inches square. One of them was
in the rough condition of stone taken from
it's quarry bed. The other had been polished
until its sides and top glistened like the
finest plate glass. A round of applause rang
through the lodge room as the handsome
stones were exposed to view.] Judge Harri
son then continued: 'fOf all the ornaments
and Jewels which represent the truths
| taught by Masonry the ashlarf
surpass all others for beauty of de
sign and comprehensiveness of symbolism
They touch both extremes of happy, virtu
| GUS human existence-the one represents 6
| man or human soul in infancy and in g
state of nature; the other illustrates thai
| man who under the influences of virtuous
| education, assisted by honest endeavor an6
| the blessing and mercy of God, passes on in
| to happy eternity. That great Brooklyn
| rhetorician and preacher whose eulogy wal
| spoken but yesterday, and who drew freely
| from all the storehouses of nature for hii
| imagery, never conceived a more beautifu
4 thought than did that ancient Masonic bro,
| Their who in the early dawn of speculative
| Masonry put into its solemn ritual th'
| rough and perfect ashlars. You, sir, n
w. M. when you read the lecture in tn.
Entered Apprentice degree, teach the young
| candidate the full meaning of the ashlars
| and no Entered Apprentice ever forgets tina
lesson. We congratulate Old Hiram in thi
| change of her ashlars. The cold white mar
BILE may be polished into perfect ashlar, bu
4 its place is the cemetery. Upon it you may
| fifty engrave the names of the dead. Marble
ashlars, with their dead, cold color, have NJ
place within the walls of living Hiram
| There is blood in her heart, and it courses
freely through all her arteries. The inter
| nal fires of mother earth were imbedded il
| the crystals of those ashlars before the star
had sung of this fair planet lin verdur,
clad;' and there the brilliant hues will re
| main forever, fit emblems of the indestructi
| bility of Old Hiram.
"Those ashlars were taken from Connection
| quarries. For thousand centuries the Sc,
| beat upon them in vain. Through ages O
| time the glaciers ground their slow cours
| over them and left them intact. Besid
| them, in their native bed rock, lay thos
rough ashlars which to-day in the harbor o
our nation uphold Liberty Enlightening tn
World. You, III. W. NJ, will have no occa
sion in Hiram lodge to break the edges O
the rough ashlar by the use of your gavel
Neither will You have occasion in Hiram
lodge to break off with your gave
| superfuities in Masonic DOCTRINE
| or practice. To-day we stanG
amid the fires of persecution, becaus
| Hiram has refused to adopt modern superhu
| tiles which are destroying the ancient land
marks and sapping the life-blood of specuIa
tive Masonry. But brighter day will come
This gathering of her sons tonight, neve
more devoted or loyal than now. the pres
| ence of so many of our brethren from othe
| lodges, all prophesy that coming day wher
even our sister lodges in Connecticut will
gather around us and say: She fought
| good fight; she kept the faith.'n